15 Easy Ways To Earn Money In Freelancing

I know you might be curious what would be the easy ways to earn money in freelancing, especially when people are struggling to get clients. I must tell you that it is indeed possible. I started my freelancing journey without any skills at all. All you have to do is start and you can improve your skills over time.

When it comes to freelancing, you have to start with the skills you already have.

There are a lot of easy skills you can offer in the market where clients pay well for your time and hard work. In this article, I will reveal everything that you need to know and how you can do it.

I will start with the easiest skills and follow with a few more difficult ones.

Easy Ways To Earn Money In Freelancing: 15 Skills

1. Data Entry

The only work that doesn’t require any skills to do is data entry. You need to be detail-oriented and able to spend long hours doing repetitive tasks. All you have to do is enter data into a spreadsheet or Excel according to your client’s requirements. Most of the time, it is a copy-paste task, entering data on websites and in Excel or Google Sheets.

You can do quick research on freelancing platforms like Fiverr, Upwork, and Freelancer to see how people are offering services. I would suggest you watch YouTube videos about data entry to get more ideas about it.

Earning Potential: This is one of the easiest ways to start your freelancing journey. You can get paid from $5 per hour, which is a starting rate for every new beginner, and can go up to $30 per hour.

2. Copy Paste Work

As the name suggests, you have to copy the data from the internet or the client’s provided data and paste it into Excel or any specific place according to the client’s instructions. This is a repetitive task that is related to data entry, but all you have to do is copy and paste the data. As simple and easy as it sounds, you have to do it as efficiently as possible to complete and take more work. 

Earning Potential: It has the same rate as Data entry work, but copy-paste work involves bulk data, so you will have the chance to make more than with data entry work. I used to make $300 to $1300 monthly just by doing copy/paste work. But, it depends on the clients, and how many clients you can consistently get to make a sustainable income.

3. Typing

You are already typing thousands of words while messaging or in school or college assignments. You can use this existing skill to provide service to others. Typing is a boring and simple monotonous task, but many agencies and small business owners hire freelancers to do it. This includes typing from handwritten files, images, and PDF files. You must be a fast typer to do this work, with a minimum of 45-60 words per minute.

Earning Potential: This won’t be hourly work. You will be charging clients for the number of pages. The average rate in the market starts from $5 per 3 – 7 pages. You can check your competitors on freelancing platforms for more details.

4. Internet or Online Research

If you are still a student, you must be doing a lot of research on the internet for your homework and assignments. This exact skill can be used to help clients who need internet research. Business owners and companies often seek internet research experts to find their required information. This work is part of virtual assistant and data entry tasks.

Earning Potential: The tasks will differ from one client to another, so you need to quickly understand their requirements. The average rate ranges from $5 to $30 per hour. You can check freelancing websites to see the rates of your competitors.

5. Virtual assistant work

You can become a full-time VA freelancer, but it requires one to two months of learning. I spent only one month learning the tools and work process. It’s not very difficult, but I would say it’s at a moderate level to start. You need to learn basic MS Office, CRM software, customer service, data entry, personal assistant work, etc. You can add more skills, as there’s no limit to virtual assistant work. It’s multitasking, where you’ll do various tasks simultaneously according to your client’s requirements.

Earning Potential: It can range from Typing to Customer service work. You have to be tech-savvy and a quick learner. I must tell you, it was my first freelancing gig that I offered to my clients as a beginner at a rate of $5 per hour. The average rate starts from $5 to $30 per hour.

6. Writing

Writing is a skill that we have developed since our school days, from writing essays to stories for English class on numerous topics. You can use this skill to provide services like blog article writing, website content, copywriting, ghostwriting, email content writing, YouTube script writing, and so on. This is the most popular and high-demand work. With the help of AI tools like ChatGPT, writing has become much easier.

Content creation is booming as blogging and YouTube become major sources of income for many content creators, who often outsource much of their work to freelancers. Most bloggers and news websites employ many freelance writers to write their articles.

If you spend one or two years consistently, you can master this lucrative skill for a main source of income and become a full-time freelancer.

Earning Potential: The average rate for writers as a beginner, charge from $0.05 to $0.20 per word depending on your skills and experience. If you can write more engaging and high-retention articles you can charge your clients confidently at your desired rate.

7. Proofreading

Grammar and sentence mistakes are common problems that everyone faces in their life. In such cases, proofreaders come into the picture to act as grammar police. You will take responsibility for fixing all the errors in their writing. For this, you need to be good with English or any other language you are working in.

Earning Potential: If you are in college and want to start freelancing, this work will be the best fit for you. You can earn from $5 to $50 for 500 words, depending on the project.

8. Canva

If you have design skills, then Canva graphic design is a great option for beginners. You can create custom designs for your clients using its easy drag-and-drop interface, or you can utilize existing Canva assets. 

I’ve seen many 13- to 14-year-old kids working on Fiverr, earning hundreds of dollars by creating simple social media post templates. The only limitation is your creativity, as designing in Canva is simpler compared to using sophisticated software like Photoshop. The best part is that you can learn and improve along the way.

Earning Potential: Starting with Canva is very easy, but your charge rate will depend on your creative and design skills. Average designers charge $5 to $30 for social media posts and business flyer designs.

9. AI Image Generator

AI is emerging in a rapid unstoppable way that is triggering a risk for real artists. You can take this early opportunity by providing services related to AI art. AI art is in demand and there is a huge opportunity in the coming future. 

If you put time into learning the prompts to get desired art results, it’s like having Aladin’s Genie in your hand to produce any art without any effort. Even the freelancing platforms added a separate category for only AI-related services. Rest you can think how potential it is for future.

Earning Potential: AI art is expensive, even though it is computer-generated art. The reason is because of the subscription cost and the number of limitations on producing the art. The average rate for one piece of art in the market starts from $5 to $30.

10.  Transcription

I want to tell you that there is a big opportunity in transcription work. All you have to do is listen and type whatever is said in audio or video format. You can offer this service along with typing services. I have done multiple transcription jobs in my freelancing journey. There’s no doubt that you can do it too.

Earning Potential: The average rate for transcription is $5 to $20 for a 10-minute audio or video clip. You can increase the rate for longer durations and also check what your competitors are offering so you can stay on top of the game.

11. Translation

If you have bilingual skills in English and your native language then you must know that there is a golden opportunity waiting for you. You can personally check in the freelancing platform about this specific gig where students are making a decent income by providing translation services. 

Most of the translation clients are content creators so there is an opportunity for long-term work. Never wait for such easy work to make your first money through freelancing.

Earning Potential: The rate for translation work depends on the number of words. Popular platforms like Fiverr and Upwork typically charge an average of $5 for 250 words. When setting your rate, I suggest checking your competitors, as clients often scan all freelancers’ rates and ratings to select the cheapest and best service provider.

12. Voice over

If you have a good voice, you can monetize it to make up to $50 per minute. In this digital world, where content creation has become the main career choice for many youngsters. The demand for voiceover artists is rising day by day. Text-to-speech software cannot compete with a real human voice, no matter how good they are, there will always be huge space for voice-over artists. 

Earning Potential: Voice-overs for YouTube channels and advertisements are in high demand, and this is expected to grow in the future. The average rate for voice-over artists starts from $5 to $50 for 200 words.

13. Online friend service

You won’t believe it,  but this is one of the most in-demand services that has become popular in many countries ever since the internet became a place to make friends online. 

Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are facing difficulty socializing and interacting to make friends. They often seek paid friends with whom they can share their problems and have someone to talk to. 

It’s not only the friends service, there is even more service that people provide. I don’t want to go into too much detail here, but you might have some idea of what I am trying to say.

Earning Potential: This is a service paid hourly, ranging from $2 to $10 per minute, depending on the clients you attract. As it is a part-time job, it should not be considered a primary source of income.

14. Language coach and practice partner

There are 195 countries in this world, and people are very excited to learn new languages, either as a passion or for work-related travel to a foreign country. There are a lot of apps to find native speakers, but it is very difficult to find one for practice. They always leave after talking a few times. In such cases, you can become the one who can be their practice partner and get paid.

You can become a teacher or a practitioner, and you don’t need to hold any specific degree or certification. I know many college students who provide such services on Fiverr and other language platforms. There are many freelancing platforms and websites available that you can sign up and start.

Earning Potential: You can get a long-term opportunity in this field. The average payment starts from $5 to $20 for half an hour. You can check native language tutor platforms such as Cambly, Preply, Italki, and more.

15. Social media manager

It is not just about finding easy ways to earn money in freelancing. You can also acquire skills that will benefit your future career. Social media management, for example, is considered one of the best options in the freelancing field.

If you have marketing skills understanding which content is likely to go viral or gain more engagement, is the key skill to being a successful social media manager. You can learn this skill by creating a personal page to practice and understand the social media algorithm. It’s a very simple skill that you can learn from numerous YouTube videos and internet resources.

Earning Potential: This is by far the most demanding freelancing gig on all the popular freelancing platforms. You can make from $1000 to $10,000 per month, depending on your experience and the number of accounts you handle.

Which is the best for beginners?

Freelancing is not easy to start, especially for beginners waiting for weeks to get their first client. However, if you have patience and a hardworking mentality, you can make it. As you keep working and providing the best service, you can get recurring clients and long-term projects which will help you make a sustainable source of income. 

Among all the skills mentioned above, if you want to start with no skills, you can go for data entry, copy-paste work, typing, Virtual assistant, internet research, transcription, translation, and Online friend service work.

If you have the time to learn and develop your skills for long-term opportunities, you can add social media management, writing, proofreading, voice-over artist, virtual assistant, English coach, and practice. These are the gigs that you can work on as a beginner and improve over time.

What are the requirements to start?

Having a laptop or desktop is compulsory for a freelancer. Along with that, you must have a stable internet connection and a reliable power supply. If you are traveling you need to always keep your laptop with enough battery to provide your clients with the best service. 

The next thing is the mobile phone. It is not mandatory, but having a phone with their apps installed is beneficial. Having their apps helps you receive instant notifications and provide prompt responses to your potential clients, which improves your overall response time and makes you a better service provider. Freelancing is a competitive field, so those with quick response times have a higher chance of getting projects.